Qatar World Cup- The Hideous Bank Of The Elegant Game

The FIFA World Cup 2022 is scheduled to be organized in Qatar next year. Before that, the venue has been surrounded by controversy because of the abuse of human rights of migrant workers who are involved in the restructuring and renovation of stadiums   

In 2013 famous British newspaper The Guardian exposed that the thousands of migrant workers were doing their work in hazardous conditions leading to large causalities. In 2019 United Nations said that in Qatar, racism exists at the workplace, as the nationality of a worker plays an important role in how he is treated in the workplace. The Kafala system is used to monitor migrant workers which also threatens the privacy of an individual. The Guardian revealed that since 2014 more than 6,500 Migrant Worker were killed due to human rights exploitation. A survey held among the workers exposed that almost 50% of workers were favoring the boycott of the World Cup and 29% of workers were against the boycott of the World Cup. Many former footballers like Tom Hogli, Thierry Henry stand against this World Cup in Qatar because of severe human rights abuses. According to the reports, the wages of migrant workers are unpaid who are working in infrastructural projects for the World Cup stadiums. Reports also highlight the hazardous working conditions, severe conditions of lodging facilities, and forced labor. According to the Human Rights Watch Report of March 2021, there is supremacy of patriarchy and because of this women can’t make personal decisions without the approval of male family members. On the other hand, FIFA World Cup organizers stated that they will promote the LGBTQ community in stadiums through displays. 

Taking all things into consideration Norway Football Federation (NFF) conducted a meeting to decide whether to boycott the Football World Cup on 20th June 2021, where NFF voted against boycotting the world cup.